Mayfield tops Lake Catholic to advance

A big game from senior left-hander Mark Manfredi is nothing out of the ordinary to Mayfield coach D.J. Rapposelli.

Against Lake Catholic in a Division I Euclid District semifinal May 15, Manfredi authored one of his best outings on his biggest stage. Manfredi held the Cougars to a run and two hits in a 2-1 Mayfield victory.

“This is like the biggest crowd I’ve ever pitched in front of,” Manfredi said. “The adrenaline just gave me drive to throw more strikes and end the ballgame.”

The latest fine start from the Wildcats’ ace sends them to a district championship game for the third consecutive season. Mayfield plays Mentor at 4:30 May 16.

Manfredi needed to work around four walks and a hit batsman in his completegame effort. He stranded runners in scoring position to end three innings, but Rapposelli was never worried.

“He’s got a lot of confidence out there,” Rapposelli said. “He’s not intimidated by that moment, so I just believe in him. I’ve seen him get out of that situation far too often so I just let him do it again.”

Mayfield scored both of its runs in the second inning. Donte Regalbuto’s sacrifice fly with the bases loaded sent Chuck Heil home for the game’s first run. The Wildcats tallied another on Dominic DiPippo’s RBI single.

Manfredi held Lake Catholic scoreless until the fifth. Jack Lausin reached on a single and scored from third on a wild pitch. Manfredi struck out two in a perfect sixth, and DiPippo ended the game when he threw out a Cougars’ bas- erunner trying to move up on a pitch in the dirt.

Mayfield returns to the Euclid District title game where the Wildcats lost to Mentor, 14-0, last year.

“We still have a chip on our shoulder from last year,” Manfredi said. “We’re pretty hyped about the game. We beat them earlier in the regular season, but that means nothing now because it was in 30-degree weather.”

Regardless of opponent, Rapposelli hopes his hitters capitalize on run-scoring opportunities. The Wildcats loaded the bases with none out in the sixth but failed to add insurance to their lead.

“These are the moments we’ve got to learn how to step on the gas pedal and take the lead, a commanding lead,” Rapposelli said. “We haven’t done that for awhile, we’ve been giving them opportunities, a little window of opportunity.

Tom Yuras’ effort rivaled Manfredi’s for Lake Catholic. The Cougars’ senior threw 113 pitches and struck out 11 in six innings.

Coach Dennis Woods was disappointed for the players whose seasons ended May 15, but was proud of Lake Catholic’s accomplishments in 2018. The Cougars needed to replace eight seniors from last year’s D-II Jefferson District runnerup and still advanced to the district level after a move to D-I.

Tongue-in-cheek, Woods kept a ball from Euclid to commemorate Lake Catholic’s first-ever D-I district competition. Six players who started May 15 return to next year’s team, including leadoff man Ryan Boruszkowski, catcher Seth Rich, third baseman Logan McNutt and pitcher/center fielder Sam Melnyk.

“We’ve got a boatload of kids coming back,” Woods said. “The catcher’s coming back and we’ve got some young kinds in our program who are pretty decent. We have some young kids and I hope they understand how they can push each other to succeed.”